Innovation Expert, Speaker, Author
In a volatile and complex world, I help companies become more deliberate about growth by implementing effective innovation strategies, redesigning processes and developing their human capabilities.
Hi, I’m Dan Toma.
I started my career in entrepreneurship, being involved with technology startups across the world.
Puzzled by the questions ‘why are innovative products mainly launched by startups?’, I focus on enterprise innovation strategy - specifically on the changes blue-chip organizations need to make to allow for new ventures to be built in a corporate setting. In this capacity I worked with companies like Deutche Telekom, Bosch, Jaguar, Land Rover, Bayer, Roche, John Deere, Allianz and many more.
A big proponent of the ecosystem approach to innovation, I have also worked with various government bodies, in Asia and Europe, helping them develop national innovation ecosystems and implement national innovation strategies.
I hold a dual degree MBA from Bradford University (UK) and Tias Nimbas Business School (The Netherlands) while being certified lean startup acceleration specialist by Columbia University (USA) trough the Lean Launchpad program
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Keynotes
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Corporate Innovation Beyond Post-It Notes
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Invoking the ‘Gods of innovation’ by ‘sacrificing’ post-it notes is becoming a common practice in corporations eager to innovate. But in most cases this ‘tactic’ never yields any results beyond frustrations and disappointment. Creating a working innovation ecosystem requires more than just a big heart and a bunch of post-it notes. The 5 tested principles put forward in The Corporate Startup are going to help leaders move their company’s innovation efforts beyond post-it notes.
Innovation accounting: How not to kill your babies
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Measuring innovation is proving to be one of the biggest challenges facing executives these days. In the absence of an alternative KPI system for measuring innovation executives revert to using the ‘tired and tested’ financial indicators. The only problem is that whatever a mature business can report on is impossible for nascent business to match; this will ultimately result in new ideas being discontinued. Innovation accounting is being pragmatic about measuring innovation without killing it.
Thinking like an astronaut
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Being an entrepreneur or building a product withing a larger company is not that different than being an astronaut. Yes you read it right! Although the risks are different, by the nature of the work they do both groups deal with uncertainty and the unexplored. Learning from astronauts how to deal with the unexpected can help entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs take better decisions.
Grasshoppers and the cash cow: Convincing dinosaurs to start dancing
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Today, more than ever, startup pressure is mounting on corporate portfolios. Independent of industry for almost any corporate product/service offering the clients have an alternative offered by a startup. Having been in business for decades optimizing an existing solution might not keep the company in business in the years to come. Only by fully commuting to innovation corporation can hope to stay relevant in ever changing environments where the only certainty is uncertainty.
EVENTS
In a volatile and complex world, I help companies become more deliberate about growth by implementing effective innovation strategies, redesigning processes and developing their human capabilities.
TechSauce
Bangkok | 2022
Nordic Business Forum
Oslo | 2019
How To Web
Bucharest | 2019
Innov8rs
Sydney | 2018
Books
Innovation Accounting
Winner of the 2022 Golden Axiom Business Book Award.
Innovation Accounting is an essential go-to practical guide for anyone that wants to measure their company’s innovation ecosystem performance using more than just financial indicators.
“A great read to uncover why a “one-size-fits-all” approach for measuring your innovation portfolio doesn’t work, and how you can outsize impact by deploying a modern and comprehensive innovation accounting system”.
Alexa Dembek, CTO Dupont
The corporate startup
Winner of the 2019 Golden Axiom Business Book Award and the 2018 Management Book Of The Year Award.
The Corporate Startup is a practical guide for established companies that aspire to develop and sustain their innovation capabilities.
‘A key reading for leaders that outlines how to effectively innovate for the future and boost growth, while running the core business.’
Alexander Osterwalder, co-author of ‘Business Model Generation’
open innovation works
Work in progress
As a corporate leader, you know better than most that innovation is a business imperative, and you can’t do it completely in-house due to structural constraints. How to proceed? The answer is open innovation — partnering with outside entities like universities, government agencies, peer firms, and startups. But there are so many limits, mysteries and tradeoffs!
The Open Innovation Works book is designed to demystify the world of open innovation and help you get the most out of your innovation spend — through frameworks, hands-on templates, case studies and the right day-to-day practices.
Innovation Expert, Speaker, Author
In a volatile and complex world, I help companies become more deliberate about growth by implementing effective innovation strategies, redesigning processes and developing their human capabilities.
Hi, I’m Dan Toma.
I started my career in entrepreneurship, being involved with technology startups across the world.
Puzzled by the questions ‘why are innovative products mainly launched by startups?’, he focuses on enterprise innovation strategy - specifically on the changes blue-chip organizations need to make to allow for new ventures to be built in a corporate setting. In this capacity he worked with companies like Deutsche Telekom, Bosch, Jaguar Land Rover, Bayer, John Deere or Allianz.
A big proponent of the ecosystem approach to innovation, Dan has also worked with various government bodies, in Asia and Europe, helping developing national innovation ecosystems and implement national innovation strategies.
Dan holds a dual degree MBA from Bradford University (UK) and Tias Nimbas Business School (The Netherlands) while being certified lean startup acceleration specialist by Columbia University (USA) though the Lean Launchpad program.
SUCCESS STORIES
FROM my healthy CLIENTS
In-person Coaching
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Corporate Wellness
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Virtual Coaching
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